Gender and Social Movements

This course is research-intensive and closely connected to the activities of the research units Atelier Genre(s) et Sexualité(s) and STRIGES. It should be understood as a research workshop for advanced master students, with a focus on theory learning and research.

It requires the students’active involvement, that implies a careful reading of assigned texts and an active participation during the lectures.

It pursues the following aims:

• To introduce students to the main concepts and theories in social movement studies;
• To apply these concepts and theories to issues of gender and sexuality, highlighting the key role of social movements and contention in these domains;
• To approach contemporary challenges in the fields of gender and sexuality with the tools of social movement studies.

The course is neither an introductory course to gender studies nor a history of feminist and LGBTIQ movements. It assumes that students have already some knowledge in gender and sexuality studies.

See above.

Connaissances et compétences pré-requises ou co-requises

Basic knowledge in gender and sexuality studies.

Each lecture includes a ex cathedra lecture and the discussion of a reading. Students are expected to actively participate to the course and to prepare the readings.

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

david.paternotte@ulb.be 

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Présentation orale
• Travail de groupe

Présentation orale

Travail de groupe

Each lecture will start with a 10-minute (max.) press review of the main events involving social movements that happened in the past week. This oral presentation should be made by groups of 3-4 students. It should adopt a gender perspective, and students are expected to reflect on the concepts and the approaches in social movement studies they could use to analyse these events.

Students who, for whatever reason, are not able to do this presentation by the end of the term have to submit an alternative essay of 1500 words on the UV by 5 January 2025. This document should discuss the events of the past month

Research proposal

By the end of the course, students have to present a research proposal related to gender and social movements in a group of 4 students. They have to choose a social movement organisation, a specific mobilisation or a moment of contention and to reflect on how they could study it from a social movement perspective, without overlooking its gender and/or sexuality dimension Compulsory readings will help them carry out this assignment, but are not sufficient. Students are expected to explore the field of social movement studies by themselves.

Concretely, students need to

1. Present the organisation/mobilisation/moment of contention
   1. How is structured and how does if function?
   2. What are the claims and the frames?
   3. Which elements of the context are relevant?
   4. What are the main achievements/results/outcomes of this organisation/mobilisation/moment of contention?
2. Reflect on how to study it from a social movement perspective
   1. Develop a research question. Students are not expected to answer this question, but should be able to justify why they think this is a relevant question and why it relates to social movement studies;
   2. Identify and engaging with the adequate literature in social movement studies (beyond what is discussed during the course);
   3.  Imagine the empirical study they could carry out to answer the research question (methods, data, et).

The evaluation of this assignment will happen in two steps:

1. By 5 November, each group has to submit an exploratory note outlining the goals and the ambitions of the final essay. It should be 2-3 pages long. This note should include a brief discussion of:
   • The topic;
   • The research question;
   • The relevance to social movement studies;
   • The gender and/or sexuality dimension that will be examined;
   • The main bibliographical references that will be used.
2. On 3 and 10 December, groups of students will present their research proposal orally. This presentation should not be longer than 10 minutes and will be followed by a 10-minute discussion with the audience. The presentation and the discussion will be evaluated both by the professor and the students.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

The final note will be calculated as follows:

1. Press review: 30 %
2. Presentation: 70 %

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais
• (éventuellement français )